Due to the Empress Dowager's prestige, the Empress could only spare the palace maid's life, allowing her to give birth to the Fourth Prince safely.
Although the Fourth Prince was born safely, the Empress did not want his identity to be made public, let alone allow him to appear in public.
In front of Emperor Shunwu, she claimed that if the Emperor acknowledged this Fourth Prince, it would mean he was unprincipled as a ruler, having secretly associated with a lowly palace maid.
Not only that, the Empress also asked her own father, Xue Prime Minister, to secretly submit a memorial reminding Emperor Shunwu not to do anything that would damage his imperial image.
To save face, Emperor Shunwu listened to the words of the Empress and her father, abandoning the Fourth Prince and his mother to fend for themselves.
In the end, it was the benevolent Empress Dowager who could not bear to see the imperial offspring killed for no reason, and she kept reminding the Empress not to go too far.
As for other matters, the Empress Dowager did not interfere too much.
As a result, the days of the mother and son in the palace were like walking on thin ice. Eventually, under the direction of the Empress, the palace maid was tortured to death.
Although the Fourth Prince was in the palace, the Empress sent him to work with the eunuchs.
Now that Nan Heng was missing, in order to maintain her own position and that of the Xue family, the Empress had to find someone who could rival Nan Qi.
Therefore, she set her sights on the Fourth Prince.
The Empress went to Emperor Shunwu and said that ever since Nan Heng's disappearance, she had felt empty, and now the Fourth Prince had no mother, so she was willing to adopt him under her name so that she could have someone to rely on in her old age.
Emperor Shunwu also considered that his two sons were missing, and having only one prince would surely be criticized by his ministers. Moreover, the Fourth Prince was still young, and he never doubted that the Empress would have any ambitions. Thus, he readily agreed to the Empress's request.
Although Emperor Shunwu had never publicly recognized the Fourth Prince, paper could not contain fire. Nan Qi's people had already investigated his existence a year ago.
Back then, with Nan Heng and Nan Rui still around, he did not pay attention to an inconspicuous prince who was not recognized by the Emperor.
But now, he did not expect that this inconspicuous Fourth Prince would become the Empress's final chess piece.
Of course, Fei Nanyu could not write so much content on a piece of paper. His account was simpler, but Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran could read between the lines.
The main purpose of Fei Nanyu telling so much about the Fourth Prince was to remind Mo Jiuye to be more careful. The Empress did not know that the relationship between Nan Qi and Mo Jiuye had soured. Once Nan Qi succeeded, she would definitely try to pardon the Mo family's crimes. At that time, with Mo Jiuye's protection, it would be very easy for her Xue family to lose their foothold at court.
Even without Fei Nanyu's reminder, this was something Mo Jiuye would pay close attention to, especially since the Xue family had just opened the Jingxian Building in the northwest. This showed that the Empress's side was already making moves, it was just that Fei Nanyu had not noticed it yet.
Initially, they also knew that one of the three officials who were enchanted in the capital was the Empress’s father, Xue Prime Minister, but they did not know which of the three mother centipedes controlled General Jin.
Left with no other choice, the two of them could only choose to hand over all three mother centipedes to Fei Nanyu.
If it weren't for saving General Jin's life, after Xue Prime Minister was stung, even with imperial physicians helping to prolong his life, it would only delay his death.
Now, in order to save General Jin, it allowed that old fellow Xue Prime Minister to take advantage...
There was no alternative, neither He Zhiran nor Mo Jiuye wanted to dwell too much on these matters.
After putting down the letter, the couple's expressions were very solemn.
They believed it would not be long before news that the Mo men and Old Duke Mo were still alive would reach the capital.
Emperor Shunwu had two ways to deal with the situation if he did not want the Mo family men alive.
The first was to directly issue an edict, slapping the Mo family with another charge of feigning death to evade serving the country.
The other method was simpler: in order to eliminate a thorn in his side, he could send assassins here.
No matter how Emperor Shunwu dealt with the Mo family, they would inevitably be charged with rebellion.
"Ranran, once something irreversible happens, take the women and children of our family and hide."
Mo Jiuye gently placed his hands on He Zhiran's shoulders, his tone extremely solemn.
He Zhiran also realized the gravity of the situation.
She had thought that with Nan Heng dead, the Empress would have no more chips to vie for power.
But she was still ambitious, adopting a Fourth Prince to contest the throne.
Although on the surface the Jingxian Building in the northwest established by the Xue family had been razed to the ground, even so, the Mo family could only buy temporary peace.
With no news from the people of the Jingxian Building in the northwest, the Xue family would surely be alarmed, and later they would send someone more capable to investigate. The news that the Mo men were all alive would certainly not remain a secret.
"Husband, although things are developing in an unfavorable direction, there are still ways out."
"What do you mean?" Rebel?
He Zhiran nodded, "What's wrong with that? When an incompetent ruler is in power, right and wrong are confused. Is it worth keeping such a person on the throne?"
Mo Jiuye clenched his fist and slammed it heavily on the table.
After a long time he spoke, "If Seventh Brother's trip to the south goes smoothly, he should be able to bring his men back in about half a month.
By then we will have produced enough bombs, and we brothers will hurry to train the old troops up the mountain."
"Training one's own army is understandable, but have you ever thought that no matter whether the Mo family succeeds or fails, once Emperor Shunwu wants to deal with the Mo family, we will be slapped with the crime of rebellion.
Rather than fretting over this, let's not hesitate anymore. If he Emperor Shunwu does not make a move, fine. But once he does, we will become irreconcilable enemies."
She paused, then He Zhiran continued.
"Of course, if no one harbors malicious intentions against the Mo family, I think the same as you, and am willing to live this simple and comfortable pastoral life in the northwest for the rest of my life.
But this needs to be built on the premise that no one provokes us. On the day we have to fight back, we must make them so afraid that they will not dare to have such thoughts again."
It was obvious from He Zhiran's words that she did not want to be a rebel either.
Moreover, she still had some understanding of the history of this dynasty. Although many things had changed now because of her arrival, that did not alter the big picture.
He Zhiran did not want to do things that would change history. Besides, according to history, Emperor Shunwu would pass away in another two years, and the empire would fall into Nan Qi's hands.
After Nan Qi ascended the throne, he basically ignored state affairs, leaving everything in court to be handled by Fei Nanyu.
Fei Nanyu was not the kind of unscrupulous person. At that time, the Mo family would surely obtain true peace.
It's just that according to recorded history, there were still two years before Emperor Shunwu's passing. For these two years, the best thing the Mo family could do was to keep their family safe without rebelling.
Mo Jiuye sat in the chair at the table, tapping the tabletop lost in thought.
How could he not be thinking the same as He Zhiran?
"We still have to make adequate preparations for what needs to be done. I just hope Emperor Shunwu does not make too big of a move. As for others trying to secretly deal with the Mo family, I will take people into the capital and make them completely disappear from this world."
"Well, currently we can't see what their next move is." He Zhiran said, looking down at her huge belly.
"If I wasn't pregnant in my sixth month, we could go to the capital now and secretly eliminate the Empress's entire clan. There's no defense against a hidden arrow. We really can't let our guard down."
After the husband and wife talked so much, they still couldn't take any action for the time being.
